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Pipe fence rail spacing jigs???

I am building a 2 3/8" post and cap rail fence. It will have 4 lower rails of 1" sucker rod. Anyone have any good ideas or photos of jigs they have built to keep their rail spacing even distance from top rail? Needless to say I have a lot of fence to build and am looking for a faster way to place my rails , other than measuring out each onc at each post. I hope this makes sense! Thanks in advance!

After you put the top pipe on, just cut some pieces of wood (1x2 will work) the correct length to space the rods. Sandwich them between the rod and the top pipe (or rod above the one you are installing) to get the spacing the same. Let me give you a tip from someone who has done that type of fence. Use 3 or 4 spacers spread out on the rod you are about to weld into place. If you only use a spacer next to the post, the sucker rod will sag and not be in line when you weld it. You will end up welding the rod to the pipe at an angle. You need to have the entire rod pretty close to where it's going to weld before you weld any of it. Also, on sucker rod use 7018 if you want it to stay.

I agree with Jim, I would also recommend 1/4" cable clips over the rod if there is going to be much pressure from livestock. But, as Jim said, support the rod in several places before welding, or you will have alot of sagging, especially in upright spacings of 8' or more.

I've got some jigs that I use for succor rod spacing between posts. They're made out of quarter inch square stock. The top is formed to hang on the top rail, think of a clothes hanger. Then the rod hangs down centerline between the posts. I have tabs welded to hold the bars in place. I have six of these so I can set up three spans at a time.

As for sag, I don't get it. In fact if anything my rods sag up. Your sag is going to be in the direction of where your weld stops. So if you do like I do and weld vertical up your last point of contact is on top and your sag will be up if at all. Another thing is I cut my rods a quarter of an inch short so I have an eighth of an inch to fill at each end. One of the biggest sources of sag is rods too long forced into place before welding.

Keep in mind that succor rod is like drill stem in that it is high carbon steel. It's often heavily magnetized and can be a bear to start an arc. It's also easy to make a weld that will crystalize and break when welding high carbon steel like you have in drill stem or succor rod.

I've don't weld sucker rods end to end with square (straight) ends. I observed how an old time welder did it and I do the same. I guess that it's called a lap joint. Where the ends come together, I cut 1/2 way thru the rod about 2" from the end. I do the same thing on the joining rod. When placed together, I clamp the laps together and weld with 7018. I've not had one break doing it this way. When welded on both top and bottom the weld is over 4" long instead of just the ends of the rod.

Harv, where are you talking about where you weld sucker rods vertically up? I'm thinking about fences where they are laid along the side of the posts so that the welds are basically flat or overhead if a person welds the under side also.

I've don't weld sucker rods end to end with square (straight) ends. I observed how an old time welder did it and I do the same. I guess that it's called a lap joint. Where the ends come together, I cut 1/2 way thru the rod about 2" from the end. I do the same thing on the joining rod. When placed together, I clamp the laps together and weld with 7018. I've not had one break doing it this way. When welded on both top and bottom the weld is over 4" long instead of just the ends of the rod.

Harv, where are you talking about where you weld sucker rods vertically up? I'm thinking about fences where they are laid along the side of the posts so that the welds are basically flat or overhead if a person welds the under side also.

That's where you weld the rods between the posts instead of on the face of the posts.